In the current spectrum, how much should one spend to get the best value? I know everyone has a different taste and budget. But analysing the current trend of smartphone culture could give a bit of insight into spending wisely.
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Under $300 IMO, that gets you a used flagship model from 1-2 years ago that isn’t too much different from the current models.
The issue is that currently the 1-2 years used flagships have a lot of issues
- Samsung S21 and S22 have bad batteries, not even talking about Exynos if OP is based in the EU
- Pixel 6 and 7 have bad connectivity and also some battery issues
- OnePlus aren’t what they used to be
That reduces quite a lot what should be the main source of used flagships
P7 only has connectivity issues in third world countries like the US. It’s not a problem in Europe
Well, you never know where people are, so it’s safe to warn a 300 millions country
Every generation has issues to be fair, I have an S21 and it’s been great.
Interesting, Snapdragon or Exynos?
Snapdragon on mine
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Don’t buy S22. Speaking from experience. Single update messed up the whole thing up.
I think the budget is between $250 and $300
I prefer older used flagships. It’s hardly depends on the use case though. I don’t care about camera, games or what so ever. Phone, messenger and maybe a handful of apps for social and homelab. So for me it’s max 100€
This is getting to be a better and better option with Google and Samsung promising more than 3yrs of OS updates.
Meh, OS updates are overrated, especially now that Android is so much better with battery life.
I have a phone running Android 9… And it’s super fast. And if I switch it to Lineage/Divest, it’s even faster.
Don’t worry man I’m with you on that one. Android 12 is a downgrade from 11 IMO
My general rule of thumb when getting a cheap device:
- want the cheapest device even if it has dubious ads and tracking: xiaomi
- want a relatively cheap device and ok with first party ads/promotion and tracking: low end Samsung
The thing with cheap device is it’s not guaranteed to have 3rd party roms available, and even if one exists, it’s not guaranteed how long they’ll be maintained, so it’s not a factor when I’m trying to get a very cheap device.
Best to look for current rom development on a device first. The Lineage device list is a big part of why I’m now going to Pixel.
Generally you get roms on the newer devices, and the older they get, development drops off.
Also depends on the device. If it was a flagship, it tends to have a longer rom lifespan because the hardware has a longer usability curve.
The Lineage device list is interesting in that you see which devices are (generally) more usable long term by the development cycle.
You can spend barely a whole minute during first time setup to make Samsung phones not give you any ad and remove most tracking that has no direct use for the end user.
I typically buy a new flagship on sale and hold it for 4-5 years. Buying a new $300 phone means you start with mid-range performance and go down from there over time. This means you’ll either have a really slow phone for the last year or two or you’ll need to replace it sooner.
Not necessarily. It depends. Some Socs like the 888 and 8 gen 1 were bad. I briefly used a Xiaomi 11T pro(8/128GB) and the snapdragon 888 inside compared to the dimensity 7050 in my realme 11 pro(12/1TB) is not much faster, if at all. The difference was super small. Instead I have much higher ram and large storage which negates any speed advantage it may have in day to day usage.
I got a couple Galaxy a20 like phones (can’t remember all the names) and they would break very easily, one fell from my pocket onto my shoe and the screen cracked . I eventually got a galaxy s21 and this phone has been dropped on pavement a bunch of times. Dropped in water , butter chicken etc and still is just fine. Other than that I actually don’t notice much difference in performance . I bought my s21 directly from Best Buy and it was almost $1000 Canadian.
Depends on what phone you get and where it cuts the corners. The Snapdragon 845 in my Poco F1 is still plenty fast 4 years later. The camera is still respectable even today.
The plastic body and shitty LCD screen aren’t great, but that was already there when I got it.
$2,000,000,000
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My work phone is nice (~$700 new?), so I use that for camera when possible.
My personal phone is an entry level “free” phone. Through Google Fi, and for this one you pay up front, with bill credits for the next year (I think?) which covers the cost — so basically I give Google Fi a $200 loan where the “interest” is a cheap phone. No complaints, it’s not premium but it works.
Somewhere between 300-500 Prioritising getting a decent chipset over the rest of the features, because having all the gimmicks doesn’t matter if the phone feels slow after a few years of updates.
300-500 of what currency?
Euro, although it should still apply to dollars since phones tend to be a bit more expensive here.
I would say the opposite.
The chipset is no longer important unless you’re heavily into smartphone games. Even a mid-range chipset from 2 years ago will run standard tasks just fine these days. Smartphone requirements have basically plateaued for a few years now.
Prioritize just about everything OTHER then the chipset, depending on what you really use the phone for. Cameras, battery life, screen quality, memory capacity… Prioritize chipset only if you’re gaming.
I dont really game on my phone but my parents both got the Samsung a51 shortly after i got my Poco F1. And nowadays the a51 takes a while to load basically anything while the F1 still feels pretty snappy.
Chipset also plays a huge part in the battery life and camera experience.
For me I only start looking for a new phone when i get annoyed by how slow my current phone feels, I’m not saying you should get a shitty phone just because it has a good chip, it just really helps it not feel old in a few years.
For me its 250-350. I can usually get a 1 or 2 generation older flagship device at that price, refurbished.
250-350 of what currency?
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Divide the total cost by how many years of OS updates are given by the manufacturer.
This, plus make sure it’s hardware security updates too, and not just OS updates. Some disenguious vendors like to confuse the two terms in their favor. I.e. fair phone.
Could you please elaborate what you mean by saying “hardware security updates”?
Security updates from the hardware vendor. Classically Qualcomm and their system on a chip driver security patches.
the fairphone 5 gets 10 years of Security Updates by Qualcom and around 8 Years of Software Updates
don’t know what you’re trying to show here
I’m illustrating the window of Qualcomm soc security updates is smaller than the advertised fairphone updates window.
right, but FP took a industrial Chip instead of a Phone Chip because that industrial Chip has that extended Support
or did you learn something i didn’t?
You’re an Apple fanboy too, eh?
That’s the metric I’ve been using for the last decade-plus, and it’s kept me locked to Apple for that very reason. When you can get 6-7 years of completely new OS upgrades, and another 2-3 years of security updates after that, Apple is a no-brainer choice to make.
The new Google and Samsung phones have been promised 7 years of updates, including major Android versions and features drops!
Mm-hm. And Apple has been doing this since the very early days.
Let’s see how these abandonware-loving companies pull this off, first. My work phone was promised three years of updates, and it’s still waiting for Android 12. Which came out in 2021. I doubt that it, much less Android 13 and 14, will ever end up on the device from a bog-standard update.
are you using surface duo or what? lol
Actually apple doesn’t provide any guarantee. They’ve historically supported their devices for a while, but if they choose to cut their support short, it’s entirely within their rights.
No phone that I used in the last 10 years survived longer than 3 years so why would i care about 6-7 years of OS upgrades?
I was using an iPhone X until just a few weeks ago, and my father is still using my old iPhone 6.
The iPhone 6 I got in 2014. That was just over 9 years ago. And my X lasted for over 6 years… and will be replacing my dad’s 6.
iPhones can last a hell of a lot longer than any Android device for the same care taken of them.
I’ve been an Android user since the beginning, started with the G1. But I’m starting to think about Apple. I have no other Apple products but I just don’t care about phone tech any more. I want a long lasting phone that launches apps, texts, and makes phone calls.
As much as I would love to welcome you with open arms, be aware that each platform has highly opinionated ways of doing things. If you are a long-term Android user who is just looking for a “simpler” experience… yes, iOS is indeed a more user-friendly design and has less friction between its different parts, but it does so in much different ways that will present you with an initial learning curve that might be too much of a slog for you.
Just… get an iCloud tier that satisfies your storage needs. Even if you have no other Apple devices to sync to. Trust me, it’s literally an insurance package in case your phone gets lost, critically damaged, or stolen, and is stupidly simple to use as a recovery source. I quite literally cannot count how often I see people who have lost a crapton of personal photos and data because they were willing to get a $1k+ phone, but couldn’t stump up the 99¢/mo for that iCloud storage.
Have you tried an iPhone? With a case? Admittedly I don’t have experience with other brands but iPhones have always just worked, reliably, for my family of four, and have held up for years
They’ve usually lasted except for this last round where my teens had our old iPhone X’s: 3-4 years with adults, perfect. However the kids kept taking their cases off and dropping the phones. I don’t know why they were so careless this time around, but I can’t fault the phones. If they were trying to get early replacements, they only succeeded in carrying around phones with broken screens
Anyhow, good phones are sturdier than ever and can last with even the most moderate of care
I paid NZ $469 for my current Samsung A31 almost four years ago, I wasnt fussed about the camera but wanted a 3.5 mm jack and lots of storage. Its now looking fairly shabby but still works well. I’ll use it until its dead and get another phone around the $400 mark. Midrange, not top end, but not a budget phone either. It needs to do a number of jobs (play music, navigation, web surfing, record rides and hikes, camera, find cheap gas, tell me how much UV dosage I’ll get at any particular time, weather, messaging on 3-4 apps plus calls of course) and be reasonably robust. Style and status dont come into it, I dont care about any of that
Find cheap gas? One secret america dont want people to know.
We have an app here in New Zealand (and Australia as well I believe) called Gaspy which shows gas prices for all stations within a set customisable radius, in price order, or on a map. And believe me we need it here with gas averaging between $2.60 to $2.90 a litre. Thats $9.80 to $10.96 a US gallon
Personally I would look for Linage OS supported devices on second hand sites. I managed to get a Oneplus 8T for around 250€. Didn’t had any problems and it still runs smooth
These questions are so exhausting.
How much does a car cost?
Look, you have to figure out what you need and what you can afford and then research it.
I thought maybe if I buy flagship Samsungs, I won’t have those problems I had with Xiaomis, unpredictable bugs, slowing down, also maybe Samsungs have better build quality…
tho I don’t have those and yeah, much better build quality, my Note 20 Ultra still had issues where warranty replaced almost the whole phone - after one year. My Fold 4 cracked its own inner screen by the peeling off screen protector, which costed me with a one time offer around 150USD. Again, in one year after buying.
the price don’t matter. it’s just pure luck at this point.
I used to buy phones for around 150USD. tho this trend of mine was only possible 5-10 years ago.
My BlackBerry Z10 and Z30 costed me this much, and those were the best smartphones I ever had and will have.
after this Fold 4, no idea what will I get, but I hope for several more years, this won’t be an issue.
My advice would be to stay away from smsung
yeah, my conclusion is kinda that.
and this is the reason why I really don’t know what brand to jump in next. I try to avoid Chinese or emerging Chinese companies for a while, tho quite a few years has passed since I owned one, so I’m not completely dismissive with them either. It would be nice to stay in the foldable world, though.
Try motorola for a change. Their regular phones are very good. Next to no bloatware. Have a foldable razr lineup if you want. The only sad thing is their lack of updates.
Samsung seems to be failing in almost every consumer sector they’re in. Their appliances in particular are being dropped by stores across Canada because the chains don’t want to deal with the tsunami of warranty issues that crop up.
I only wonder when this drop in quality will trickle down to their business-class products… I have a thing for their U.2 drives (dat DWPD goodness!) and ECC RDIMMs.
costed
Particples are hard.
My Fold 4 cracked…
Yeah. Ya think?
Really, I’m amazed when the folding-screen phones don’t crack; it’s like they’ve broken a fundamental law or something by continuing to exist intact.
Particples are hard.
idk man, I just pretend to know English, so errors may occur here or there.
